MALAYSIAN JOURNALISTS DO NOT CONDONE CORRUPT PRACTICES

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 (Bernama) -- Malaysian journalists do not condone
corrupt practices and report only newsworthy stories, said Deputy Information,
Communication and Culture Minister Joseph Salang.

He said that Malaysian journalists also did not practice "cheque-book" or
"envelope" journalism, which was the norm in some developing countries,
including those supposed to have greater press freedom.

Malaysian jounalists report statements of a minister or anyone else if they
are newsworthy and not because the speaker had bought space in a newspaper, he
said after launching the Forum: 'Mass Media Towards 1Malaysia' in conjunction
with the World Development Information Day here Thursday.

He said the Malaysian media must ensure that discussion or coverage of
sensitive issues did not get out of hand and cause social conflict.

"Just because we have curbs on sexually-explicit material or sensitive
religious issues, we have been attacked as having an oppressive media
environment," he said.

According to Salang, the media had an important role in promoting the spirit
of 1Malaysia to bring a message of unity among people of various races.

He said there had been greater openness in the media in the last several
years, with easy access to information online.

Newspapers owned by government-affiliated companies had also given a lot
of exposure to opposition parties, which are free to publish their own
periodicals, Salang added.

The one-day forum was organised by South-South Information Gateway, a
division under the Ministry, and co-sponsored by the Malaysian National
Commission for UNESCO. Participants included scholars and media practitioners.
-- BERNAMA